A Soldier's Promise

Chapter Eleven

***Two months later***

Evelyn sat at her laptop trying her best to concentrate on the chapter she was trying to write, but she just couldn't do it. It had been two months since her video call with Jonathan. Since then, she'd received a few short emails, basically just saying he was alive, and he missed her. It had been over two weeks since she'd even gotten an email. She opened her mailbox and looked at her sent messages. She wrote him daily emails, sometimes even twice a day. Evelyn knew he couldn't respond to them all, but it somehow still made her feel a little connected to him while they were apart. Evelyn took out her phone and sent Jen a message.

"Still haven't heard from J. I'm so worried about them." It took a couple minutes, but she finally saw the three dots at the bottom of her screen, indicating Jen was typing a response.

"I haven't heard from A either. Maybe this is common when soldiers are on a special mission. I'm trying to not let my imagination get the best of me, but it's so hard." Evelyn swallowed the lump in her throat and her vision blurred with tears that wanted to fall.

"I can't seem to get my mind to think of anything but bad scenarios." The three dots appeared again.

"We promised them we'd be strong. You've got to keep it together for J, Evelyn." She felt the tears as they began to fall down her cheeks. She nodded even though there wasn't anyone there to see it. Evelyn took a deep breath.

"Yes, you're right. I will be strong. I'm so glad I have you to talk to. Someone who understands what I am going through."

"Me too. Remember I am just a phone call away if you need to talk." Evelyn smiled down at her phone.

"Thank you, Jen. Remember I'm here for you too."

"Maybe we can meet next weekend for dinner."

"Sounds good. Talk to you later."

"Bye, girl."

Evelyn sat her phone down feeling a little stronger after talking to Jen. She headed into the kitchen, grabbed another cup of coffee and a snack, then returned to her laptop. Finally, her mind settled, and words began to flow onto the page.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~*~*Two Weeks Earlier~*~*

Albert tried to open his eyes, but they felt so incredibly heavy. His body hurt everywhere it seemed. He tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry. He faintly heard a noise that sounded so very far away. It was a beeping sound, that seemed to get louder and louder by the minute. It took all the strength he could muster for his eyes to flicker open. The light was blinding and painful, but he still fought to keep his eyes open. Albert felt his lips moving, trying desperately to get words to come out.

"Wha..." his voice unrecognizable to himself. His throat burned, when he tried to swallow it was almost as if he was swallowing broken glass. He coughed violently, the spasms causing pain to radiate throughout his entire body.

"It's okay, soldier. Here, drink some water, but take small sips," he heard someone say to him. He felt something against his lips. Every instinct he had made him want to drink deeply from the straw he was being given, but he did what the voice told him to do. He took one sip, then two. The more sips he took, the less his throat seemed to burn. After a couple minutes, he was finally able to speak, although his voice was still raspy.

"What happened?" he whispered; his head slowly looked in the direction he thought the voice was coming from. "Where am I?"

"Shhh, don't try to talk too much. You've been through a lot." He closed his eyes and the memory of the explosion his team walked into. He closed his eyes and flinched as the sound of the explosion rang through his head again. "You need to try to stay calm and rest."